


Daisy and Ben

by Skyson



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Caterpillars, F/M, False Identity, Original Character(s), Secret Projects, skoulsonfest2k15redux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 16:56:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4399898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyson/pseuds/Skyson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another story where Skye and Coulson have to pretend to be together. </p><p>(Written for Skoulson RomFest 2k15 Redux, prompt: Caterpillars)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daisy and Ben

**Author's Note:**

> Seems I like writing them using a relationship as a cover.

When Coulson entered his office that morning, he was mildly surprised to find Skye already sitting at what had become "her desk", programs up and running on both her laptop and on the wall, music playing from his record player, and a file in Skye's hands.

"Hey, AC," She turned and grinned softly, standing and picking up one of the cups of coffee that had been on her desk. She handed him the coffee, and Coulson took it from her gratefully, a pleased look at the old nickname.

"What're we having today?" He asked, taking a sip of the coffee. It was still very warm.

"Cat Stevens," Skye replied, and Coulson smiled and nodded as he recognized _Peace Train_.

"Cat Stevens is an excellent choice." He said, and Skye smiled proudly. They moved together toward the map projected on the wall, and Skye flipped the file open in her hands, holding it so they both could read from it.

"I think I've found the perfect spot," Skye began, and then dropped her voice so that the bugs they knew to be in the room would only pick up the music playing, "for the new base. There's an old SHIELD facility in North Dakota that seems to have been abandoned since the whole Hydra thing came out." Coulson raised his eyebrow in interest, leaning over to look more closely at the file in her hands.

" _Sunburn_ ," He read, " _Information restricted_." He let out a little sigh as he thought of Fury and the plethora of secrets the man seemed to have, and moved toward his desk to engage the Black Box.

"I figured there might be something in that box of yours," Skye said, and Coulson nodded.

"Yes, there's a list of bases in here. And I think I _do_ recall seeing one in North Dakota," He placed his coffee on top of his desk and began rifling through folders, bringing up the documents they needed. Skye whistled lowly, her eyes wide as she watched him.

"There's a heck of a lot more stuff in here than the last time I saw this thing," She said, tucking her arms loosely across her chest in an effort to resist reaching out and digging through some of the files. Coulson chuckled and glanced at her.

"I've been working," He said dryly.

He opened a folder that included maps of the United States and Canada, and the entire eastern hemisphere. He enlarged the map of the US and zoomed in on the continental states, and Skye tried not to look too closely at the other map, though she was curious about what the different colored spots meant. Coulson spoke as he opened another file and moved it next to his map, scrolling through the list that had come up.

"Black means the facility is secure, it's ours. Orange is unknown - once we get a good group together, I'd like to check some of those out. Red were the ones under Hydra's control; I'll never completely trust those facilities again, so I'm keeping them marked. They're for emergency use only, or non-classified operations."

"What about blue?" Skye wondered, seeing there were only two blue marks on the eastern map, and one on the map he was looking at.

"Restricted," Coulson realized aloud, when the notification popped up in front of them. He closed it, and tried opening the information on _Sunburn_ again, this time saying firmly, "Director Override." Skye held her breath for a moment, but then the file opened without an issue.

"So, Fury has an impenetrable black box that only he - and now you - can get into. Inside that he has a list of secret bases only known to SHIELD. Among those, are bases only _he_ knows about. And aside from _all of that secrecy_ , he has _more_ secrets he won't even divulge in something as secure as this thing?" Skye scoffed, shaking her head, and Coulson raised his eyebrow at her.

"Are you going to go on another Rising Tide rant about need-to-know information?" He asked teasingly, and she frowned at him.

" _No_ , I just can't get over how much this guy didn't trust _anything_." She looked at Coulson with admiration. "He must have really thought a lot of you." Coulson shifted his feet uncomfortably, and shrugged.

"We've all got at least one person we trust implicitly. For some, it's their self. For others..." He looked at her. "It's someone else." She smiled slowly, then looked back toward the map. She reached out and zoomed in further, checking out the surrounding land.

"It looks like there's a small airfield nearby. Think we should check this place out?" She wondered, back to business, and he nodded.

"Recon, first. Make sure the place isn't a sleeper-cell, or something. It looks abandoned from satellite shots, but then again, that's kind of the point." He marked the file with their Project Caterpillar symbol and closed everything up, and Skye moved back toward her desk, slipping into her seat and getting to work on her computer.

"I'll see if I can find local surveillance, and hack in. We can watch from afar for a week or so, see if there's any suspicious traffic near the area." She spoke as she worked, not seeing Coulson watching her from across the room, a small smile on his face.

"We'll make you team leader, yet," He teased, serious in his own mind, even more pleased when Skye looked up for a moment to beam at him.

 

 

 **< ><><>** 

They had to deal with a lot of reorganization and cleanup at the Playground, so an entire month passed before Coulson brought up a North-Dakota-focused mission. Skye knew where the topic was heading as soon as Coulson had turned the volume up on his record player, so she closed out what she'd been doing and pulled up the surveillance data she had gathered. They stood in the center of the room, away from any surfaces that would help amplify their voices.

"Nothing in the past month. I think that's a pretty good sign, at the very least for me to go in and check the place out,"

"For _us_ to go in," Coulson corrected, and Skye looked at him in surprise.

"Aren't you trying to _lessen_ the suspicion they have of you?" Skye said pointedly, and Coulson scoffed, shaking his head.

"I go on trips all the time, collaborating with other agents at other bases. I'll have Koenig draw up some travel plans. This would hardly be the _first_ time he's helped me make it look like I'm going to one place, when I'm actually going somewhere else."

"Wow, Secret Agent Man AC," Skye grinned, and Coulson rolled his eyes, but she caught the smirk at the corners of his lips. "But what about me? I haven't gone on those trips with you before, wouldn't it be weird if - "

"Take Lola. Tell them you're visiting your dad." Coulson suggested.

"I can drive Lola again?" Skye asked excitedly, and Coulson gave her a hesitant look.

"As long as your careful," He trailed off, and Skye made a happy noise that he hadn't heard in many months.

"This is _cool_ , secret missions with the boss!" Skye hooked her fist in the air, and Coulson raised his eyebrow at her. "Sorry," Skye calmed immediately, that flash of her previous self gone as quick as it had come, "Careful. You got it." She promised him.

"Here," He moved to his desk and opened one of the drawers, pulling out Lola's keys, "Go ahead and take these. You can leave whenever you're ready; just let me know first. I'll probably be in a day or so after you." He held the keys out toward her, and she reached up to grab them, but he didn't let go immediately. " _Careful_ , Skye," He warned her, and she schooled her features, looking up at him and giving him a serious nod.

"I'll take care of her." Skye assured him. They both stood there holding onto the keys for a moment, and just as Coulson started to let go, there was a knock on his office door and then it opened, and May walked in.

She stood there, taking in the slightly loud music, Coulson and Skye's close proximity. The excitement on Skye's face, the surprise on Coulson's. Lola's keys in Skye's hand.

"I want to discuss with you about putting Bobbi on desk duty, for a while." May said. Coulson cleared his throat lightly and nodded, moving toward his record player to pull the needle up.

"I'll let you know, boss," Skye said in her 'respectful agent' tone of voice, nodding at May in greeting before slipping past her and out of the room. May raised her eyebrow at Skye's back, and then toward Coulson.

"What was that face, for?" May asked, and Coulson furrowed his brow, as if he were confused. He moved to sit behind his desk, and May sat across from him.

"What face?" He asked as he settled back comfortably.

"The 'I just got caught' face," May pointed at him, "I've seen that face before." When he hesitated to answer, May sighed. "You've sent her off to see her father again, haven't you?"

"Yes," He said, relieved. May narrowed her eyes a little. "I let her use Lola so she wouldn't have to sign out one of the SHIELD vehicles. This isn't a mission, May, it's personal. She worries about him."

"And you worry about her." May pointed out. "Phil, I'm not saying it's wrong to allow her to see him. I think ... it's a good thing. For both of you." She looked at him closely, caught his startled expression. She leaned back in her chair, suddenly looking resolved. "Unless you _aren't_ having a fatherly conflict with Cal."

"I - what are you saying?" Coulson asked carefully, and May's short laugh sounded almost disappointed.

"You _know_ Cal doesn't hate you because he's jealous of a father-daughter relationship between you two." May said, and Coulson's frown deepened.

"I thought we were discussing Bobbi Morse?" Coulson redirected the conversation, gritting his teeth, and May respectfully followed his lead.

 

 

 **< ><><>** 

Coulson and Skye spent a week or so at the base, finding it completely abandoned and in need of serious spring cleaning. According to the final security logs Skye scrounged up, the place had been shut down since Natasha Romanov had outed SHIELD and Hydra, and there were layers and dust on everything.

There was also dried blood, and the smell of sulphur and of death in the air. There had been a firefight between agents, and it looked as if, unfortunately, SHIELD had been the losing side, here.

They wore masks and gloves as they cleaned, and Skye gathered badges and info from the dead, trying not to look too closely into their faces. Coulson, who wasn't much help in this department with just one arm, researched each name through his Black Box as Skye gathered the bodies. He differentiated Hydra from SHIELD, and later he helped separate them into two separate groups. There weren't a lot - perhaps a dozen or so - but that didn't make the job any less difficult, both emotionally and physically.

One afternoon, as the sun was setting, Coulson watched as Skye used her powers to break up the ground, creating a space in the abandoned field on the property for a gravesite. She insisted on burying each one individually, even the Hydra operatives, though she separated a bit of distance between those that were Hydra and those that weren't. Once catalogued, Coulson carefully placed each badge atop their chests.

"They earned these, Hydra or no. Their loyalties may have been misdirected, but there were times these men and women still did good, still saved lives, still made someone's life better. I have to honor that." Coulson told her, and she nodded in understanding.

She covered them with dirt, and they both placed a small marker at each one, a code number designating their identity. Later, once they could shift some funds around and get some workers out here, Coulson promised he would have real markers set, something that would last.

They stood next to one another in silence as the sun set, Coulson reaching out to wrap his fingers around Skye's.

Taking care of cleanup wasn't as hard, after those few days, and Skye once more started feeling excited about getting this place up and running again. There was still a lot that needed repaired, but they'd made a good dent in the work.

After six days, Coulson told her he had to return to The Playground.

"Just take me back to that airport down the road. Koenig has everything taken care of. Are you okay being here alone for a couple more days?" Coulson asked her one morning during breakfast. They'd cleaned up the kitchen alright; it was at least safe to prepare food and eat in. They'd also stocked up some of the nonperishable food supplies, just in case this place needed to be a safe haven before it was actually ready for it's intended purpose.

"I'll be fine," Skye assured him. It wasn't as disconcerting now that the hallways had been bleached and scrubbed. "I think I might explore the local town some more, really get the feel for the place." They had been worried about being in the public eye too much; Coulson finding himself on more and more blacklists. Plus, most of those who didn't want to kill him thought he was supposed to be dead, anyway, so it was just better if he stay hidden as much as possible.

"Just be careful," Coulson warned her, knowing that he didn't need to, but saying it anyway. Previously, she probably would have been annoyed that he didn't think she could take care of herself, but she knew that wasn't what he meant. She knew that it was just because he cared about her, and she smiled at him.

"You be careful, too," She told him when they were at the airport, watching people prepare his plane to load passengers. The town was small, and this airstrip was often used by local pilots more than international travelers, so Skye knew they were being watched by curious regulars. And, also because she wanted to, she leaned in and pressed her lips against his cheek, lingering for just a second. When she pulled back, he looked surprised, but happy. Skye smiled and brushed her thumb across the spot she just kissed, wiping away imaginary lipstick.

"I'll see you later, Tiger," She grinned, winking, and he laughed out loud. He pulled her in for a moment by wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and pressed a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Bye," He said, picking up his bag and then wiggling his eyebrows before turning toward the plane. Skye took a step back, watched him board, and then caught the glance of another woman about her age who had been saying goodbye to a parent. The woman was smiling, as if she were happy to watch that exchange between Skye and Coulson, and Skye laughed a little embarrassingly.

"How long have you two been together?" The woman asked, and Skye hesitated only momentarily before running with it,

"Two and a half years." Well, that wasn't a lie, really. The woman stepped a little closer, curious but still far enough away that the conversation wouldn't have to continue any longer than Skye allowed it.

"Has it always been long distance?" She wondered, and Skye shook her head.

"Not always. Work gets in the way a lot, though." Skye said with a sigh, and the woman looked understanding.

"Doesn't it always." There was a beat, and she moved closer Skye and held out her hand. "My name is Cady. Forgive the intrusion, it's just, this place is pretty small and I don't meet strangers very often."

"Daisy," Skye greeted her, a little chagrined that the first name that had come to her was one she wasn't entirely comfortable with yet. They shook hands warmly. "I'm - we're - in the process of finding a place here," Skye explained, thinking as she went, "we both have places currently, but we wanted a spot of our own to come to."

"Is he married?" Cady asked quietly, and Skye couldn't help but release a loud laugh.

"No, no, it's nothing like that," Skye assured her, and Cady both seemed to relax and look a little disappointed. "his job doesn't allow him much total privacy very often, and I have roommates. This place is perfect for us to meet... to be completely alone for a while..." Skye trailed off, having no idea how she was going to keep this going, but Cady took her hesitance as embarrassment.

"Oh, girl, I've been married for six years now - we still find ourselves naked on the living room floor every now and then!" Cady said, laughing, and Skye raised her eyebrows in surprise at the sudden rather intimate information. "Sneaking around is fun and all, but nothing beats the freedom of total solitude," Cady winked, and Skye laughed, hoping it didn't sound as nervous as she felt.

She was suddenly thinking a lot about Coulson and being naked and living room floors, and shook her head.

"How about I show you around? Give you the hometown tour! As quiet as this place seems, we have some _great_ stories..." Cady suggested, and Skye agreed to follow her into town, meeting at one of the diners and going on from there.

And that was how Skye started making friends in a North Dakota town of only a few thousand.

 

 

 **< ><><>** 

"Hi," Bobbi greeted Skye at the breakfast table the morning after her return. Skye was a bit bleary eyed from the long drive back, and May had even given her a morning's reprieve from 5am Tai-Chi.

"Hey, Bobbi," Skye murmured, heading straight for the coffee, not catching Bobbi's enquiring gaze. "How've you been?" Skye asked as she poured herself a cup, and Bobbi leaned back in her chair as she watched Skye's body language closely.

"Getting better every day. Little by little," Bobbi replied, and returned Skye's smile when Skye turned and moved to sit across from her at the table. "What do you and the Director have going on?" Bobbi asked directly, and Skye spit her coffee back into her mug. She placed it on the table and wiped at her mouth, staring at Bobbi in surprise. "Come on," Bobbi scoffed, leaning forward against the table, "You go visit your dad for a week, and Coulson just so happens to be gone that same week?"

"I'm not sure what you're implying," Skye began in a warning tone.

"You're either having sex or you're hiding something big. And I know it isn't sex, so, what is it? More of that Kree stuff?" Bobbi demanded, though she didn't sound like she was about to out them. She sounded more like she was concerned _for_ them, this time, not concerned _because_ of them.

Skye opened her mouth, thought about what her new friend Cady thought, and wondered if she should just start treating this like every undercover op. One backstory, one solid backstory that everyone would fall for, and stick with it. Granted, it would be difficult to persuade her fellow teammates of this backstory... but certainly it couldn't be _impossible_?

"And if it was sex?" Skye challenged, sipping her coffee. Bobbi eyed her for a moment, and then started to look slightly unsure.

"While your weird mornings with the loud music are _odd_ , I highly doubt the two of you make out in his office that everyone knows the council still has bugged." Bobbi said, and Skye shrugged, standing up.

"You wouldn't know, though, would you? With the loud music, and all." Skye managed to look aloof without giving herself away, and sauntered up the steps toward Coulson's office, coffee mug in hand.

"We're talking about this later!" Bobbi called up the steps, and Skye was momentarily assured that Bobbi would keep their secret, if only because she wasn't sure what the secret was.

When Skye entered Coulson's office, she went straight toward the record player. He looked concerned at her harried expression, and immediately moved next to her, gently taking the record from her and placing it on the machine. Skye set her coffee down and ran her fingers through her hair, breathing as he started up the music.

"Bobbi is suspicious," Skye began, and Coulson nodded, relaxing.

"So is May." He said, calm as ever.

"Those are possibly the two worst people to be suspicious of us," Skye pointed out, and Coulson shrugged, leaning against the side of his desk.

"They have nothing to pin on us," Coulson pointed out, and Skye folded her arms across her chest.

"Yeah, but if we want to pursue this further, they _will_ find something to pin on us. They're already digging!" Skye exclaimed, and Coulson frowned a little, finally looking worried again.

"Digging? Why? May just thinks we're having some sort of affair,"

"Bobbi thinks we're either having sex or we're planning to take over the world - "

Both of them stopped, realizing what the other said.

"Bobbi suspects secret mission plans?" Coulson clarified, and Skye said,

"If May already thinks that..."

Coulson watched as Skye paced across the middle of the room, thinking.

"Does Bobbi suspect our project?" Coulson asked again, and Skye shook her head distractedly.

"No, not exactly. She just said 'or your planning something big'." Skye didn't say anything else, and Coulson huffed in frustration, standing straight.

"Skye, what are you thinking?" He demanded, knowing she was making plans by the expression on her face. She looked at him, very seriously.

"This is perfect, actually. We can use this." She nodded to herself, and went to her desk to pick up her tablet, swiping her fingers across it hurriedly.

"A cover?" Coulson realized, interested, and Skye nodded, still focused on her tablet as she spoke.

"I'm going to create a paper trail - emails, text messages, heck, even sticky notes," Skye explained, "something they can follow. But something that doesn't look too easy, so I should probably come up with some sort of code..." She looked up at him. "What ciphers do you know?"

"All of them." Coulson replied with a raised eyebrow. Skye pursed her lips at him but then focused back on her tablet.

"I don't want to make it too difficult for them..." She muttered, staring at her tablet for a moment. "What about a qwerty code? It's simple enough."

"You mean using a traditional keyboard as substitute letters?" He clarified. "Sounds a bit _too_ easy, if you ask me." He sounded a bit miffed, but then sighed and gave her a look. "Skye. Are you going to clue me in here, or what?" Skye looked up at him.

"Oh. We're lovers." She said as if that had been obvious, and once more went back to work. Coulson sat back down against his desk.

"We're _what_?" He demanded, and Skye turned toward her desk, putting her tablet down and connecting her phone to her laptop.

"It'll work fine, especially since May, Bobbi, and Cady all already assume so anyway," Skye explained.

" _Who the hell is Cady_?" Coulson wondered, lifting his hand in the air.

"A new friend. In North Dakota." Skye said over her shoulder, and he gave her a perplexed, surprised look. "She saw us at the airport," Skye explained, and realization dawned on Coulson's face. He frowned again though, like he wanted to argue, but he wasn't sure where to start. After a minute, Skye stopped working and turned to face Coulson fully.

"We need to persuade more than just May and Bobbi, with this sort of thing." Coulson warned Skye seriously, and she nodded.

"It won't take me very long to plant messages," Skye assured him.

"And what makes you think you'll be able to make it sound like _I_ sent them?" Coulson challenged her, and she raised her eyebrow.

"Well," She shrugged, "write some stuff down, then." He gave her a long look. "What? Is it too weird?" She honestly didn't think he'd be so uncomfortable by this. He'd done lots of undercover work before.

"No, Skye. It's a really good idea." He said honestly, even a bit admirably. Skye grinned a little. "It's," He frowned momentarily, "a bit perfect, actually. We could explain our mutual disappearances a lot easier,"

"And our 'secret meetings'," Skye added, wiggling her eyebrows, and he laughed a little, relaxing significantly.

"Okay. Show me how I can help." Coulson said, standing and striding over to stand behind her at her desk, leaning over as he watched her work on her computer. "And we're discussing this Cady, person, later."

 

 

**< ><><> **

They agreed to keep the paper trail very small, though, and very nondescript. Most of the messages were requests to meet up in some unfrequented part of the base. A couple suggestive text messages, an 'XO' and a winky face at the bottom of a post-it note from Skye, Coulson's hand lingering against her arm or back just long enough for an onlooker to notice.

It was more difficult when they were in North Dakota.

Coulson had hired his people who had helped him with the Helicarrier to assist with their work on the base. None of them knew who Skye was, and all of them knew not to ask questions that didn't pertain to the job that needed done.

Skye got a lot of enjoyment watching Coulson interact with these agents, honestly. He was different with them, more stoic. At the Playground, he was many times just another member of the team, he was friendly. He even played games and ate meals with them occasionally. Here, though, he was all Director. He was still kind, and respectful, but he emulated an air that Fury had; he demanded cooperation and didn't have to answer your questions.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a bit turned on by that, especially that he always wore his nicest suits when he was here. Even (perhaps especially?) with the arm tailored up so there wasn't extra fabric hanging about over his missing hand, Coulson wore a suit like no other. Skye couldn't help but admire him for a moment while they were out at the grocery store, looking for something for dinner.

"With the way you're looking, I'm going to guess that this is your Ben?" Cady's voice surprised Skye and she looked over, realizing that her friend was smirking from the other side of the container of frozen seafood Coulson had been digging through. He stood up straight, his eyebrows lifted in surprise as he sought out the owner of the voice. Skye saw Cady's look of shock when she realized he only had one arm, but she quickly wiped away the expression and held out her hand toward him.

"You must be Cady," Coulson said warmly, and Cady grinned, looking at Skye as he released her hand.

"I won't keep you, I just wanted to introduce myself. If you two ever want some company, let me know. We're always open to having you for dinner!" Cady told them, giving Skye a nod as if she approved of something.

"See you later, Cady. I'm sure we'll take you up on that offer sometime soon." Skye said, smiling but narrowing her eyes, silently warning Cady not to say anything suggestive. Cady seemed to know exactly what Skye meant, and she grinned widely before moving on without another word.

"She seems... nice." Coulson commented, looking a little unnerved.

"She's very nice. She's also very... blunt." Skye said, and he raised his eyebrows at her a little, somewhat suggestively. Skye shook her head and gestured toward the bags of fish they'd been looking at. "Find anything good yet?" She asked, and he nodded, reaching down to pick up the last item he had been looking at before their interruption.

When they were in the checkout line, Skye noticed Cady a couple aisles over. While her friend was paying attention to her own purchases, Skye stepped closer to Coulson anyway, sliding her arm across his back beneath his jacket. He went with it immediately, even leaning in a little to press a kiss against her hair.

"I'm curious as to how she knew who I was simply by the way you were looking at me," Coulson whispered before pulling away to finish paying the cashier. Skye bit her lip, blushing a little before she could stop it. She maneuvered by him to get the basket of food, leading the way out of the building. He rested his palm low against her back, lightly, but with assurance. "Also, why does she assume we wouldn't want company?"

"I don't know," Skye huffed, annoyed with herself that she couldn't keep her thoughts in check, "Probably because she thinks we spend all of what little time we have together having sex."

Coulson's fingers twitched against her back.

Dinner was delicious and went by without further incident, and the next couple of days they spent in companionable conversation, cleaning out and detailing plans for a large office. They returned to the Playground, and Skye was able to be much more at ease because they didn't have to work as hard on the fake relationship while they were there. It was frankly rather relieving to be busy with missions, assisting Bobbi's pt, training with May, working on her powers.

Everyone was curious about their relationship, that much was obvious, but they never bothered her too much about it. Well, other than Hunter, but he was nothing new. Skye was surprised by Simmons starting the change, after spending some time in the lab with her one afternoon.

"How did you and Director Coulson... establish your relationship?" Simmons asked while she worked on something Skye couldn't name. Skye gave her a wide-eyed look, and when she didn't respond at first, Simmons looked up and gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm just curious how these things are dealt with, when it's someone you work with so closely, you know?" Skye realized Fitz must have said something to make Simmons nervous, and smiled gently.

"Honestly, I don't think I can give you a specific day, or moment," Skye began, once again thinking on her feet. They hadn't discussed _beginnings of relationship_ too in depth. She needed to make sure she told him about this conversation as soon as they were finished; so they wouldn't conflict one another. "The way we work together was a part of it, I think. We just... understand one another. And after a lot of late night conversations as we planned missions, we realized we understood one another on a kind of a deeper level."

Skye knew that what she was saying wasn't all a lie, and continued a little more confidently at Simmons' almost hopeful expression.

"He knows everything about me. He trusts me, and he trusted me even when most people didn't. He's always believed in me, encouraged me, helped me believe that I could do better and that I could actually help people. He made me believe I could be an agent, and he made me _proud_ to be one." Simmons sighed dreamily as Skye spoke, and Skye suddenly stopped, realizing she'd said a heck of a lot more than she meant to.

"Oh, Skye," Simmons consoled her, "Don't be ashamed of that! That's _beautiful_." Simmons patted her arm, and Skye pretended to shrug it off, embarrassed.

"Anyway," Skye said breezily, "it's not like we suddenly jumped one another during a late night in the office. He's a very independent person, and so am I." Simmons laughed, looking amused by Skye's statements now.

"You don't need to hide your relationship from us, Skye. I mean," She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "You two disappear for _days_. We're not _idiots_."

"Well," Skye gritted her teeth, mortified at the way her heartbeat seemed to have increased exponentially. "The biggest advice I can give you is to talk about it. Make sure the other person knows exactly how you feel. I, uh, gotta go." She all but ran out of there, not wanting to hear any more about her coworkers thinking about her and Coulson having sex.

Two days later, Hunter 'casually' brought it up while they were in the shooting range.

"What's it like, sneaking around with the Director?"

"If I answer that question, it wouldn't much be _sneaking around_ , would it?" Skye snarked as they reloaded their weapons. Hunter laughed genially.

"Oh, it isn't much _sneaking around_ , now." He assured her. "'Bob and I figured out your little code. Must be a lot of empty storage rooms around this place, huh?"

"You've been spying on our _emails_?" Skye hissed, more chagrined by the nature of his suggestion. Just what had Coulson been writing? She had added his additions into the mix without decoding them, trusting him that they would be fine for their cover.

"Haha, you two are worse than me and 'Bob!" Hunter laughed, shaking his head in amusement. He also had a proud look in his eye, though. "I've got to admire the man, though; I think he has more energy than I do."

"What the _hell_ , Hunter!" Skye growled, turning to remove the clip and shove the gun back into the locker. Hunter's laugh echoed after her as she stalked out of the room and down the hallway.

The next morning, Bobbi made sure to catch Skye in the kitchen after the morning's workout.

"I want to apologize for Hunter. He told me what he'd said yesterday, and he can mean well, but really he's just an ass sometimes." Bobbi said, shaking her head, and Skye smiled grimly as she handed over a bottle of water.

"I really don't appreciate you guys reading our emails," Skye said, silently giving herself a high-five for knowing that they would, and Bobbi didn't look too apologetic about that.

"You understand why we have to? Gonzales was concerned the two of you were planning something against SHIELD. Some of his people are still of that mindset." Bobbi pointed out, and Skye sighed before taking in a long drink of water.

"And you? Are you one of those people?" Skye asked, and Bobbi gave her a long look.

"I don't think you're planning something against SHIELD, no." Bobbi said. "But, I'm not entirely convinced this relationship thing isn't a cover for something else." Skye frowned, and Bobbi held her hand up. "I don't say that to be insulting. What I'm saying is, it's convenient."

"You of all people," Skye couldn't help but say, "Should know that using a relationship as a cover is a horrible idea." Skye was realizing that, herself, and Bobbi winced but nodded, accepting the barb. Skye started to walk toward the stairs, wanting to disappear before she gave herself away, and Bobbi's voice made her pause halfway up.

"It's a horrible idea when the relationship is _real_ ," Bobbi agreed quietly. "and I've seen more than enough evidence in the past year to know that the two of you really do love each other. I'm sorry that... it's hard to turn off my suspicion. Just give me time, Skye. Please." Skye looked back down at Bobbi and gave her a small smile, nodding. Bobbi returned the smile and Skye continued toward Coulson's office.

"Do you have any Directorial duties this weekend?" Skye asked as soon as she entered the office, and Coulson looked up carefully from his desk. May turned around in her seat across from him, to face Skye. "We don't need to go very far." Skye barreled on, not caring that they had an audience. Clearly, the entire team 'knew' they couldn't keep their hands off of one another, anyway.

May turned to Coulson, lifting her eyebrows in question, wondering what his answer would be, as well. He swallowed, trying to gauge Skye without giving himself away.

"I thought," He began carefully, "we agreed to keep these discussions after-hours?" May snorted under her breath, and Coulson frowned at her.

"We don't have a major op planned this weekend. I'll take care of the base." May rolled her eyes, standing up and giving them the room. Coulson looked back at Skye, obviously a little peeved.

"Regardless of our relationship," Coulson said firmly, standing up, "that was inappropriate." As usual, though, he turned the record player on, and turned the volume up. Even louder than usual, which made Skye hesitate for a moment. "Shut the door." Coulson ordered, and she did so without breaking eye contact, reaching behind her to push the door closed. He beckoned her closer before he spoke again.

"What's going on?" He asked, his tone more concerned, now, "Has something happened at the Caterpillar base? I haven't been notified of any issues."

"No, all that's fine," Skye waved it away, letting out a huff. "Bobbi and I just... And Hunter, And Simmons... God, everyone thinks we've been doing the frik frak, and we haven't even _kissed_." Skye complained, and Coulson was silent for a long time.

"The frik frak?" He repeated, finally, and Skye rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well, _yes_ , Coulson, what do you think would happen during a week long vacation?"

"Tell them it's classified," Coulson said, shifting his shoulders. Skye snorted.

"Yeah, I did that the first two days we've been back. These people are insistent. They want _details_." She saw him swallow. "And all their minds are in the gutter!" Coulson looked curious for a second, but pressed his lips together into a thin line. He waited a beat, then asked,

"Do _they_ use the term 'frik frak', or was that just you?"

" _God_ , Coulson," Skye exclaimed quietly, turning away from him and running her fingers through her hair. He could see that she was clearly agitated by all of this.

"I'm sorry that I haven't realized you were dealing with this. Do you want me to talk to them? They'll probably back off if I say something."

" _That's not the point_." Skye retorted, pinching the bridge of her nose as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Oh," Coulson realized. He'd had to deal with this sort of thing before, in past ops that centered around this sort of cover. "They're putting thoughts in your head." Skye was quiet for a long enough moment that he was suspicious her answer wasn't truthful.

"Yes." She sighed, her shoulders dropping. Her back was still toward him, and he frowned.

"That's nothing to be _ashamed_ of, Skye," He told her, and she laughed without any humor. "If it makes you feel any better, I've been guilty of that, too." Fuck, did he just admit that out loud to her? "It's natural." He added, mentally kicking himself. He watched anxiously as Skye slowly turned to face him.

"Natural." She repeated, facing him without really looking at him. He nodded encouragingly.

"Don't worry about it," He assured her softly. She stood there quietly. Just as he wondered if he should say something else, she nodded and turned to walk toward the door. "Do we still need to meet somewhere this weekend?" Coulson called out, concerned, and Skye shook her head.

"No, we won't. Thanks for the advice, sir." She shut the door behind her, hanging on to the knob for a moment as she caught her breath. A few moments past before she heard the music turn down on the other side of the door, which meant Coulson had probably stood there for a minute, no doubt confused.

She wasn't sure what bothered her more - that Coulson had been having the occasional _naughty thought_ about her, or that he simply brushed them away as being 'natural under the circumstances'.

Skye was screwed, she really was. She'd gone and done what she had told herself she wouldn't do - she'd fallen in love with a fake relationship.

 

 

 **< ><><>** 

Weeks went by before they managed to carve out another few days to spend at the secret base, and they spent the entire first one inside, avoiding the need to pretend to be _together_. Skye saw the whispers between the workers, sometimes, when she and Coulson walked down the halls together discussing plans. They probably suspected the two of them were a little more than just the two bosses, but they kept their opinions to themselves.

Skye got a message from Cady asking about dinner, and sighed, knowing it would be good to see her friend. It had been a while since they'd been around, and at one point Cady had even asked if 'Daisy and Ben' had broken up. Skye had assured her that wasn't the case, they were just busy, but the next time they were in town they would make time for dinner.

"Coulson?" Skye popped her head into the rec room, where Coulson was reading one of the books they'd come across at the local thrift store. She swallowed as he looked up at her over the rim of his glasses. "Do you mind if we spend the evening with Cady and her husband, Rick? She's been asking after us." Coulson's hesitation was very minute, and Skye only noticed it because she was looking for it.

"Of course. Let me put something a little more comfortable on," He said agreeably, marking his page and setting the book on the coffee table. The room looked a lot like a large, comfortable, living room; designed to be a place of relaxation after work. When Skye realized she was staring at the soft rug on the floor in front of the sofa, she turned around and headed down the hall toward her room. She wondered if she would go even one day without having a naked-Coulson thought, however brief.

When he met her in the garage by the car, he was wearing jeans and a soft grey v-neck tee, the sight leaving Skye's indeterminable emotions stuck somewhere between softhearted affection and raging lust. He'd chosen to forgo the glasses, thank God - otherwise she was sure they wouldn't have made it out of the garage.

They got into the car and buckled, but before he started the engine, he turned to look at her.

"Ready?" He asked, and she looked at him like he was being ridiculous.

"Yes, of course I'm ready." Skye said, and he raised his eyebrow at her, dropping his hand from the ignition. She frowned.

"Skye, these people think we've been together for a couple of years. They're going to notice you looking terrified to be within three feet of me." Coulson pointed out carefully, and Skye narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm not - I'm _fine_." She assured him insistently. "Let's go, or we'll be late." Coulson sighed, but started the engine and pulled out of the garage.

When they stood in the front stoop, bottle of wine in hand, Skye slipped her other hand into Coulson's, threading their fingers together. He wasn't surprised by the action at all, which disappointed her a little, but he squeezed her hand encouragingly. Rick greeted them at the door, and Coulson released her hand to shake his. Rick didn't seem surprised at all by Coulson's injury, and Skye appreciated that Cady had warned him ahead of time. She knew Coulson didn't like when people stared at it, even if he didn't say anything.

This being the first time Skye met Rick, she immediately realized why Cady had never questioned the age difference between 'Daisy and Ben'. Rick looked to be about the same age as Coulson, and Skye already knew Cady was her age.

"Daisy! I've heard a lot about you," Rick said with a smile that reached his eyes - Skye immediately liked him. She held the wine out, and he took it gratefully, leading them into the house.

"I've heard a lot about you, too," Skye assured Rick, and he laughed.

"Probably about how much I like wine, huh?" He teased, showing the bottle to his wife as they entered the main part of the house. He leaned in to press a kiss to Cady's cheek, and she laughed.

"Sorry, guys, just need to finish up here and then we'll be ready." Cady told them from her position in front of the stove. The kitchen and dining room were one big area, separated by their linoleum and hardwood flooring, respectively.

"No worries," Skye assured her. "Is there anything we can help with?"

"No way! You're our guests tonight! Just relax." Rick smiled, sitting with them at the table. He immediately started up a conversation with Coulson, and Skye sat back and watched as Coulson relaxed further into his seat as he became more comfortable. He seemed like he was actually enjoying himself, but then again, Skye knew he was very good at undercover.

She mentally kicked herself, knowing she needed to focus and be in a good mood. And, besides, Skye really did consider Cady a friend. Standing and brushing her hand across Coulson's shoulder, she moved into the kitchen, leaning against the island counter while Cady cooked, striking up conversation with her. She kept one ear toward the table.

"Cady didn't tell me that the two of you were like us," Rick said a bit curiously. "You know, kind of an obvious age difference, I mean."

"We've never considered it," Coulson replied honestly. "It hardly ever comes up, really."

"I'm glad for you. We had to do some explaining to the parents, for a while." Rick shrugged. "But they came around. That's what happens when you're the boss, though."

"The boss?" Coulson asked, and only Skye could pick up the tightness in his throat.

"Yeah," Rick laughed, "your regular office romance, me and Cady. She's my partner, though; I made her my equal long before we started getting serious. Once people couldn't argue that we were taking advantage of one another, they realized they didn't actually have a problem with us."

"Not that we cared, anyway," Cady called out over her shoulder as she turned off the stove. "We would have just ran away to someplace new."

Skye helped her carry the completed dishes to the table, giving Coulson a bit of a smirk as she set her dish down on a hot pad. He was looking a little uncomfortable, and as Skye settled in her seat next to him, she rested her hand on top of his knee. He flinched and looked at her questioningly, and she only smiled at him. He relaxed immediately, realizing that he had been looking more Coulson and less Ben, and shifted in his seat, gathering himself.

Dinner went extremely well, in Skye's opinion, and after she and Coulson helped clean up, they all moved to sit outside on the back porch for a while. Rick opened the bottle of wine they had brought and they each had a glass, Rick commenting that if someone wanted seconds, he had another bottle inside.

"So, I want to say something," Rick announced, "and it will either put the two of you at ease, or it'll get me arrested." Coulson raised his eyebrow imperceptibly, looking at Skye for a moment.

"No need to be so drastic," Cady poked Rick in the ribs. "Look, we've both lived here just about our whole lives. We know there's a military base up the road. This town thrived on the comings and goings of the people who worked there. What we're wondering is, are people gonna start coming back? Can we depend on them as a resource, again?"

Skye was quiet, completely surprised. Granted, she shouldn't have been. Plenty of small towns in America are dependent on the military activity that goes on around them. And plenty of small towns have secret military bases that stay secret. The problem is, SHIELD did not always equate with "military" - it hardly ever did. Many people didn't quite understand the concept of Hydra infiltrating SHIELD, and assumed everybody in the organization was bad business.

"What kind of people worked there before?" Coulson asked, his tone cool but not unfriendly. Skye could see his muscles tensing as he determined whether there was going to be a problem, and he stopped drinking from his wine glass.

"Dunno," Rick shrugged, "military guys. Most of 'em seemed pretty young, I'm pretty sure it was a training base. There was never anything big going on, far as we know. Our airfield can only handle so much, as you know. It was actually pretty quiet most of the time, before that whole  SHIELD thing happened."

"Was it a SHIELD facility?" Skye asked, and Coulson gave her a sharp look.

"I think so," Cady nodded, "some sort of boot camp. On holidays our church would invite any of them over that didn't have anywhere else to go. The couple times I drove the van to pick them up, all I saw was a bunch of training facilities. You know, equipment, running tracks, climbing walls, stuff like that."

"We were all worried, of course, once the Hydra thing came out. We had friends who worked at that base." Rick was quiet for a moment. "I haven't heard from a single one of them since. I understand the need for secrecy, but I don't even know if they're still alive."

In the low light streaming out from the kitchen through the glass door, Skye could see the muscles in Coulson's jaw twitch.

"Has the town ever experienced any trouble from Hydra?" Skye asked, trying to sound more gossipy and less 'concerned government agent'.

"Surprisingly, none." Rick said, and then shrugged. "There were quite a few helicopters on that base, since we don't have a large airfield. They all took off within a week or so of Hydra becoming public enemy number one."

"It just got really quiet around here, I mean, more so than usual," Cady said. "The town struggled for a bit. But we're managing."

"Are there any families still around? Who worked, or had relatives that worked at the base?" Skye asked, and Rick frowned.

"If there are, they've been really good about hiding. We haven't heard a thing." He said, and Cady agreed with him.

"We heard Hydra has been all but eradicated. And this Talbot guy, he says SHIELD isn't so bad after all? Are you guys SHIELD? Here to make sure there aren't any Hydra guys still crawling around?" Rick asked honestly, and Coulson gave him a long look. "We figured we'd ask you guys about all this because... well, your hours, honestly. And how you're working on cleaning up a place to live, but, this is a small town. We hear when a house has been bought and new people are moving in. We haven't heard anything like that. And we've been starting to see guys around the shops again, guys that look like government."

"Ben," Skye said, resting her hand on Coulson's forearm. "He's not Hydra. Neither of them are."

"How do you _know_?" Coulson wondered quietly, looking at the other two. Skye squeezed his arm lightly, and sent a vibration across his skin. He jumped, whipping his face toward her in surprise.

"I _know_ ," Skye said pointedly, and Coulson just stared at her for a moment. Skye sighed, slipped her arm further around Coulson's so they were linked, relaxing a little against him in the bench seat they were occupying. "Don't worry," Skye told Cady and Rick, "Hydra is completely gone from that base. We're here to clean it up, get it back in working order."

"We're with the military," Coulson confirmed, glancing at Skye out of the corner of his eye. She nodded easily, agreeing with the lie. "We're not working for SHIELD." That part wasn't a lie. Project Caterpillar was not a SHIELD operation. "We don't have a lot of people in our squad right now, but we will eventually be expanding. I think the town will be okay." Coulson gave them a little smile, and Rick and Cady looked relieved.

Skye relaxed a little more, finally taking a real drink from her glass. While she had known that Cady and Rick weren't Hydra, she still wasn't sure how they were going to handle the idea of SHIELD. Coulson's explanation was a nice middle ground, and filled with enough truth that they had found it believable.

"Are you two really together?" Cady asked, sounding on edge. Their entire friendship started on the assumption of Ben and Daisy as a romantic couple, and Skye really didn't want to lose that friendship.

"We are," Skye nodded, tightening her arm around Coulson's. She realized he couldn't lift his glass to his mouth because she was holding him so tightly, but she was a little nervous. He pressed a kiss against her hair, whispering, "Easy," before pulling back. Skye loosened her hold on him, resting her hand on his knee instead.

"But you aren't actually here looking for a getaway, though? You're rebuilding the base?" Cady prodded.

"We're here for a little of both," Coulson admitted. "Our boss probably wouldn't be entirely pleased if he were to find us... in some darkened corridor or something." Skye snorted, just barely keeping herself from choking on her wine. She raised an eyebrow toward Coulson, and Rick laughed.

"Not to worry. This place is excellent for keeping secrets." Rick assured them, with a wink. Skye and Coulson smiled warily at one another, both of them taking a long drink.

After Skye had finished her second glass and they had done a good hour and a half of star-gazing, they bid their farewells.

"It was very good to meet you, Ben," Rick said honestly, shaking Coulson's hand, and Skye could tell that Coulson genuinely appreciated Rick.

"Hopefully we'll be around again sooner rather than later," Coulson said as Cady and Skye shared a hug.

"Oh, don't worry about that. We don't plan on moving any time soon, and our door is always open for the two of you." Cady assured him. "Good luck... with everything."

They waved goodbye and Coulson threw his arm around Skye's shoulders as they walked toward the car. Without thinking, Skye tucked her hand into the back pocket of his jeans, something that was far more intimate than anything they had done before. As soon as she did it, she realized it probably was a step a little too far, but it was too late. Cady and Rick were watching them leave, and Skye jerking her hand away from Coulson as if she'd been burned would not look like a Ben or Daisy thing to do at all.

The walk to the car seemed to take forever, but Coulson never tensed up like he was uncomfortable. He even opened the car door for her, turning gently so her hand slipped from his pocket naturally. She glanced up at him apologetically, knowing his arm on the car door would block her face from Cady and Rick. Coulson just smiled a little, nodding his head for her to get in the car, and shut the door behind her. He gave the other two another wave as he walked around the front of the car and got in, shutting his door and buckling himself in.

"Can you drive one-handed?" Skye wondered, leaning her head back against her seat as she looked at him. He rolled his eyes as he turned the ignition.

"Better than you can with two glasses of wine," He replied, and she frowned.

"Hey, I'm hardly a lightweight," She argued, insulted, and Coulson gave her a look.

"No, but you've hardly had any water today, and you drank down that last glass rather quickly. Besides, what was that stuff Rick had brought out for round two? It smelled a heck of a lot stronger than what _we_ had bought."

"It tasted better, too," Skye grinned. "He does have good taste in wine." Coulson made a noncommittal noise and pulled out into the main road.

"I wonder if the rest of the town thinks the same way these guys do." Coulson furrowed his brow as he thought. "If what they were saying is right, and this whole town is used to keeping a secret base secret, then... well, we might be okay."

" _Really_?" Skye wondered. "I mean, it's not like these guys don't have internet. They don't ever feel the need to share?"

"Skye..." Coulson glanced over at her, a bit worried about how she was going to take this, "I'm pretty sure they have security measures in place so no footage, no mention, nothing gets out regarding the base." Skye was silent for a while.

"You mean, they monitored people,"

"No, Skye, come on - there's probably an algorithm or something that everything goes through, and it just takes out any of the damning information." He sighed. "Isn't that what you do? Create algorithms to run things through, to read large amounts of data for you?" He glanced over when Skye was still silent, and he realized that she was pouting.

"I've become my worst enemy." She muttered, and Coulson grinned.

"The Tide is rising," He teased, half wishing he could hit the thrusters and fly them back to base. That wasn't such a good idea with only one hand, though.

When they had parked and climbed out of the car, Skye let out a long yawn and stretched, not noticing Coulson watching her with a soft look in his eye.

"Sorry, wine makes me sleepy," She murmured, and Coulson gestured ahead of him as he held the door that led further into the base open for her. "You look really good, tonight." Skye said as she past him, brushing her fingers across his chest.

"Thank you, Skye." He replied, resting his hand high against her back as he walked with her down the hallway.

"No, I mean it." Skye insisted. "I'm not just saying that because I've had too much wine to drink." Coulson's lips quirked up humorously, and Skye added, "Though, I do admit that I've had too much wine to drink." Coulson laughed, pulling her close for a moment.

"Sir?" Sam Koenig was standing just down the hall, looking uncomfortable with having interrupted them. Coulson smoothly stepped out of Skye's space, as if it wasn't a big deal to be in her space to begin with (which, for Skye, very big deal).

"Yes, Sam?" Coulson asked, and Sam approached them closer, holding out a tablet.

"I'm sending some of the boys out early in the morning, and would like to get your signature on these requisition forms beforehand. I apologize for the late hour. I tried to catch you before you left, but..."

"Its okay, Sam." Coulson assured him, taking the tablet from him and scanning through the files. "Okay, I can approve all of these." He signed with his finger on the screen, and passed the tablet back to Sam.

"Thank you, Sir." Sam glanced at Skye, and they both caught a little smirk on his face. "Have a good rest of your evening." Coulson narrowed his eyes at Koenig, but the man turned around and disappeared back down the hallway.

"He's going to tell Billy that he caught us canoodling." Skye said matter-of-factly, leaning against the wall. Coulson rolled his eyes, and gestured they continue walking. She pushed herself away from the wall and walked next to him, but she didn't reach out for any sort of contact.

"We weren't _canoodling_ ," Coulson scoffed. "We were being companionable."

"Companionable." Skye repeated, and then laughed.

" _Canoodling_ would be _you_ putting your hand in my pocket," Coulson pointed out, and Skye's lips curled up into an almost evil-looking grin.

"What, like this?" She wondered, sliding her hand into his back pocket again. (He really did have a nice ass. She couldn't help appreciating it.) Coulson jumped, looking at her like she was crazy.

"Skye!" He hissed, moving her hand away from him. She laughed, but kept her hands to herself.

"Sorry, sorry, couldn't help it." She bit her lip to force the smile off of her face. She managed to look extremely apologetic as she said, "You in a pair of jeans is just entirely too tempting." Coulson's feet stopped moving, and he stared after her as she continued walking toward her quarters. She stopped in front of her door, and turned to raise her eyebrow at him. Her expression softened at whatever it was she saw on his face, and she bid him goodnight before disappearing into her room.

Coulson blinked, realizing that he was breathing a little faster than normal, and quietly cleared his throat. He was surprised by Skye's actions, sure - both times she'd done it - but it wasn't that he didn't _like_ the feeling of her hands on him. The problem was, he was starting to like it a heck of a lot too much.

He quickly went to his room, which was across from hers, and firmly shut the door behind him. He had agreed to this whole cover idea, he'd thought it was a good idea. He still thought it was a good cover, but tonight's dinner made him finally accept what he'd been struggling with for the past few days.

He wished it wasn't a cover.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I wanted to add this in. Okay, bad news - I can no longer find this document. It may have unfortunately become collateral damage back when my computer kicked the bucket earlier this year. HOWEVER - if anyone wanted to continue this story, I would have no problem with that. But without my original document and the ending I had written, I don't think this would be the same. For now, I'm going to leave it as it is. My tone and style of writing has changed a bit since this story, and I don't think I can keep it quite the same as I'd like to, without having the original document in my possession. But again, if someone were interested in picking up this story idea, I would be more than willing to pass it along. Please just ask me first before you do so. I know some of you were curious to know where this would all lead to. I'm terribly sorry about this. I hate leaving fics unfinished, especially when so many of you were interested in it.


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